Patricia Mou

A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced from any other assumption. In Mathematics, these are called axioms.

What I really want in life are experiences, activities, and states of being, not possessions.

There is no such thing as 100% hands off investing. You have to look at the rules/regulations and make your own assumptions on what will/will not change in the future.

There is a common misperception of what makes life meaningful. It is the idea that we have a special purpose in life – and that once we find it, all our confusion ends.

Members of a tribe expect to benefit from investing into the tribe - and they might decide to leave if those benefits never manifest - but it matters little to them when and how exactly they receive that benefit.

Such virtues are in dwindling supply in America. Two thirds of all our first marriages end in divorce. The war between children and parents has never been uglier (since it is now concealed, rather than public as it was in the '60's). We think AOL and the local mall are communities. We think that Disney, the corporation, is a story-teller. And, to... See more

Working together can also be an extremely enriching and sobering experience. It is enriching because people learn, gain traction, motivation and a sense of meaning. It’s sobering because it provides a real-world test to the quality and strength of the coordination fabric your group has been building, stripping away the relative comfort of... See more

9. Noise Cancellation. The ability to cancel out the noise - to truly focus on the task at hand - is both broadly applicable and extremely powerful.

Some research has indicated that an exercise consisting of imagining and writing about one’s best possible self increases various aspects of well-being (King, 2001; Boehm, Lyubomirsky, and Sheldon, 2011; Layous, Nelson, and Lyubomirsky, 2013).